They had been traveling together for three days now and were almost at the valley’s entrance. Veloth was still trying to figure out how to shapeshift. Veloth had however, figured out how to use telekinesis and how to sense and obtain precious metals and gems.

When they were travelling towards the mountains the forest had become more hazardous, and there sometimes ambushes by packs of goblins, dire wolves, and once even a swarm of strange insects. Every time they were ambushed, Tara would receive a scratch here or there. Though she could heal herself by channeling light mana to the wound, she would grumble under her breath, and Veloth got tired of it.

Veloth looked for an exposed iron vein, which he thought would be more likely the closer they got to the mountains, but to no avail, so he developed a way to obtain iron. He sent a pulse of primal mana, as Tara called it, through the earth in a massive radius and then it returned back to him. Everything the mana moved through changed the nature of the mana slightly, effectively acting as a version of sonar.

Veloth eventually learned how to differentiate the different signatures and painted a picture of the ground beneath him, pinpointed a deposit of iron, and willed the portion of the iron to the surface. He then willed away the impurities in the iron and willed the pure iron to form a needle. From there on, telekinesis was relatively easy, effectively one step less than what he had done to pull the iron to the surface without the need to part the earth in the way of the iron.

He proceeded to take three of the pelts they had obtained from the dire wolf ambush and some sinew which was effective as thread. By no means being any sort of expert on tanning, he did his best. The tanned hides were brittle and soft in some areas, but they would suffice.

Veloth then asked Tara to give him her leather armor. She obliged surprisingly readily. Now without her armor, Tara looked especially attractive and womanly. Veloth set to work on repairing the armor and crafting a new bracer for her left arm, since the old one was singed beyond repair.

Thus they finally find themselves at the mouth of the valley, the path to Paradiso.

Before entering the valley, Tara approached him. “Erm, before we travel through the valley, I wanted to… bathe… at a nearby lake.”

“Ok, go right ahead. No reason to neglect your hygiene. In fact, I have been dousing myself with magic water I created myself, since it’s the best I can do right now. Wouldn’t it be easier if I did that for you as well?”

Tara blushed furiously and shook her head like a rabid dog “No!” Veloth shrugged.

[I guess though I am a beast, she sees me as a man? Is it because I can speak?] Although she was right to refuse him. Veloth retained his libido for human women since he never lost his memories.

“The thing is… can you stay on watch nearby? I don’t want to be left defenseless…”

“Oh, yeah sure. No problem.” Veloth resolved himself not to peak. It was extremely cliché to peak on a bathing women during travels in light novels and anime.

About an hour after the conversation, whilst listening for Tara should she need help, Veloth practiced his shapeshifting. He willed his mana to surge through every pore of his body, and to warp it. He had a solid image in his mind, of himself when he was still human. A well-built man standing at 6 feet who would visit the gym regularly to maintain his lithe and toned body. Thick straight blond hair that reached shoulder length. Sapphire blue eyes that got him many compliments. High cheekbones that gave his face an angular appearance.

Veloth felt his body shifting. He willed it to continue, to finalize, and to hold. He felt his body… solidify. Veloth looked down at his hands and tested their motion. After confirming his hands were working well, he tested the range of motion of his limbs. Everything seemed to be in working order. The only problem was that he was naked.

“Kyaaaaaah!” As Veloth finished testing his range of motion, he heard Tara’s scream. He immediately dashed to the nearby lake to see what was wrong. There, face down and bleeding from his skull, was a large man in full plate armor, his helmet had fallen of and skittered to edge of the lake.

Standing over him was Tara, the full glory of her smooth bronze skin and supple curves in full view, a rock in her right hand. “Kyaaaaah!” She screamed again and threw the rock directly at Veloth. It happened so fast that Veloth had only time enough for two thoughts. [Cliché…hot…] Darkness overwhelmed Veloth’s vision.

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